Fixes for some key deficiencies in occupational injury and illness data: What are the fixes, what's been preventing their implementation, and what is to be done

The presence of employer practices that discourage workers from reporting injuries and illnesses has been called "the dead horse that refuses to lie down." Research conducted by some government agencies as well as academic research have documented serious problems with employer retaliation against workers who report injuries and illnesses. More whistleblower cases related to employer retaliation for injury/illness reporting are being pursued by OSHA and making their way through the court system. Yet, research by the BLS, funded by Congress to help determine the scope and nature of an undercount, if one was found to exist, did not find much of a problem. This presentation will review how safety and health conditions are degraded when workers are discouraged from reporting injuries/illnesses, discuss who benefits when injuries and illnesses go unreported, review recent research on underreporting, and identify flaws in recent BLS research. Barriers to addressing injury/illness underreporting will be analyzed. Experience with employer practices that discourage injury/illness reporting in several industries including mining and rail will be discussed, including specific attempts to address problems in these and other industries. APHA's policy resoluton supporting injury/illness prevention programs and opposing employer practices that discourage workers from reporting injuries and illnesses will be described, including recommendations to address these harmful practices. OSHA's attempts to update its Recordkeeping Rule will be explored, focusing on certain provisions that, if included, could significantly improve the accuracy of injury/illness data. Additional strategies will be examined for addressing workplace practices that discourage injury/illness reporting, so that this "dead horse" will finally lie down.